AUSTRAlIA’S Mark Webber saw his shot
at a Formula One world championship
evaporate with a graining set of
Bridgestone’s super-soft tyres, when
he was forced to pit after just 11 laps.
Stuck behind Vitaly Petrov and Fernando
Alonso, Webber was unable to make
progress and quickly dropped from title
contention as team-mate Vettel bounded
to victory and championship success.
Starting fifth, he kept his place off the
line, but began dropping back from
Alonso as his tyres faded. He was forced
to pit for a set of the medium compound
tyres, but with Alonso pitting four laps
later he remained behind the Ferrari. He
never looked like challenging Alonso for
position, knowing that he had to beat
him at the very least, with a disappointing
eighth place at the end meaning he
finished the season in third place 14
points off Vettel.
Webber admitted after the race that it
all went downhill after he started suffering
with the tyres.
“Early in the race obviously we had to
make a few calls to get out of that position
we were in. It wasn't too bad till then,” he
told reporters.
He also pointed out that his early
pitstop and Alonso’s copycat move soon
after essentially pushed Vettel closer to
the title. Had he not pitted, Alonso would
likely have gone on to finish the required
fourth place, demoting Vettel to second in
the championship:
“Going for the harder tyre pretty early
obviously hurt Fernando because he had
tocovermeoff,soinawayitwasabitofa
team effort I suppose, but obviously I didn't
get the result I wanted,” he continued.
“I fully congratulate Seb on the world
championship. There were a lot of
positives this year. This weekend didn't
turn out and it's a shame.”
Tyre trouble costs
Webber shot at title
Poor qualifying was first nail in coffin
3